The Chief

Feuding with Orton is the worst thing you can do if you're a mid-carder on the way up. He's cooled off a lot of guys who were at that Barrett level.

Ziggler did not win that match. Sting did. That killed the angle off even before Cena brought them back. Sure but let's not forget the way Ziggler fought to survive down 3v1 and was pulling off a very valiant and emotional comeback that the crowd was invested in before HHH interference and all the shenanigans took place. I think making the whole thing about Sting and not even giving any credit to Ziggler's performance was more of the problem. Well yeah, that was kind of my point. In the moment, Ziggler looked like a hero. But it was not treated that way the next week on TV. They maybe mentioned it in passing on Raw the next night but that was it. HHH cut promos on Sting and never once mentioned Ziggler when he came back. You would think he'd want revenge on both guys.

Yeah, if all parties consent, who gives a shit?

Ziggler did not win that match. Sting did. That killed the angle off even before Cena brought them back.

Ziggler has had some really high peaks for someone who is pretty much a mid level guy. He beat Cena on a December PPV too and that was also negated fairly quickly.

Could Cesaro even be considered hot now though? It would be more like getting rid of a hiccup.

This might deserve it's own topic, but they have to be running out of time on these heavy part-timer supercards, right? Once a year for Taker is too much right now, let alone in a few years. Rock came back and had his fun. We've seen Sting. HHH will most likely always be a presence and can still go, so I guess we've got him. Shawn is retired but thats still a question mark. If Austin could physically go it would be for MAYBE one or two matches. Foley is cooked. Flair won't get cleared. We probably haven't seen the last of Batista but Marvel will keep him busy until he's what, 50? Lesnar will continue to work whenever. I'm curious to see what their main events will look like in 2018. Hopefully we won't be bringing back Kane and Jericho for nostalgia runs cuz they haven't really created any significant stars to replace these guys.

Is Sting even on their radar anymore? When he did that post-Raw interview after Mania and the fans were asking for another match, he kind of just shrugged his shoulders and implied "I dunno guys, ask Vince"

Surprised the thread has gone this far without mention of possibly the most famous weird career path: Jesse Ventura

Benoit vs RVD was great. Benoit just completely dismantled Van Dam and forced him to work as a sympathetic babyface and he was surprisingly good at it. Plus it contained one of the rarest visuals in all of wrestling. Van Dam's ponytail came undone!

They haven't done a good job with anyone that isn't Cena in a really long time. It feels like everyone is just mired in mediocrity this year. They have Brock vs. Taker as their mega-blockbuster main event so it's not like they can't experiment a little with a title challenger. But yeah, anybody but Cena just doesn't feel ready. Even Reigns feels so far below that level right now.

Cena vs. Rollins is just odd because they've gone to great lengths to distance Cena from the main title picture. Rollins really has no credible challengers. It's like they just realized they needed a SummerSlam match, shrugged their shoulders and said "might as well be Cena"

Mr. Jim Silica

Four hours, ten matches. Since the card seems set, have at it: 1. Tag Team Championship: Prime Time Players (champs) vs. New Day vs. Matadores vs. Lucha Dragons - I think they heat up New Day with a cheap win and have the other teams chase through the fall 2. Intercontinental Championship: Ryback (champ) vs. Miz vs. Big Show - Ryback just came back, I say give him a strong win 3. Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev - Dolph is coming back and Rusev has been dropping some matches lately 4. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens - Owens is swinging back down and Cesaro is on his way up. I have a feeling this could be for the NXT title. 5. King Barrett & Stardust vs. Neville & Green Arrow - always go with the celebrity 6. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose - seems like a Smackdown main event. I think they might try again with Reigns leading into the new year 7. Bellas/Fox vs. PCB vs. Team BAD - I think they may be taking the title off Nikki and transitioning to Charlotte in the near future. 8. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus - they love beating the MITB winner 9. US Title vs. WWE World Title - John Cena vs. Seth Rollins - uggh, I really have no clue here. A clean way to do this would be for Cena to win both belts then have Sheamus take the world title away. I don't think Sheamus is quite at that level though. Still picking Cena. 10. Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker - I don't want to see this at all. They want Taker strong for what could be his last match in Dallas. Don't know what they do with Brock after. And for the hell of it, NXT: 1. Apollo Crews vs. ??? - No brainer. Marcus Louis becomes the new NXT doormat now that Parker is gone. 2. NXT Tag Team Championship: Vaudevillains vs. Blake & Murphy - The Blake/Murphy experiment ends and the Villains will be over huge in Brooklyn.They counter Alexa Bliss with, I dunno, Blue Pants? 3. Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe - Oddly looking forward to this. They may be testing Joe's carrying ability 4. Jushin Liger vs. Tyler Breeze - Liger wins and he's the surprise Cena challenger for a one-off on Raw. Maybe a Hall of Fame induction next year. 5. NXW Women's Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley - needs no explanation 6. NXT Championship: Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens - I think Balor is pretty bland as their top guy, see SummerSlam for Owens's plans

What was Mark Henry doing in 2005? I know he gets injured in early 2004 but two years seems like a long time. He doesn't come back until the very last week of '05. I don't remember him having another OVW stint, did he go back there?

Don't see a thread yet, but the NXT vs. ROH show was fantastic. Now I want Tommy Rich doing the entrance spiel with Enzo and Cass for NXT Assault on Atlanta tm.

But for what they want to actually accomplish with NXT, he would be perfect. I really don't think fans would see it as a step down if they did it right. He can still be utilized on the main roster a la Owens.

If Cena keeps the US title, how great would it be to see Liger answer Cena's US open challenge the Raw after Summerslam as part of his little stop-over in NY? EDIT - Another fantasy scenario: Any chance of Owens getting his title back from Balor, then going on to face Cesaro the next night, Cesaro talks him into defending the NXT title, then Cesaro beats him for the belt? I think Cesaro would be great as the NXT ace. I'm pretty pumped for SummerSlam. Both shows sound like a lot of fun.

Fuck, I marked out for that Lana kick

Snagged these for five bucks at an antique fair today. There has to be a way I can make this into a drinking game right?

LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN VINCE DOESN'T PRODUCE ANNOUNCERS!

Saturday Morning Slam was fuckin awesome and I'm glad this has the same vibe

I just wait til winter. I live in upstate New York so the last thing I want to do is watch TV when it's nice out for the limited time it is. I run outdoors so iPad/treadmill/bike is not an option. If I'm working on an art project I'll probably put some wrestling on in the background. When the weather hits 10 degrees for months straight then I'm watching wrestling non-stop.

Why was Martel taking sabbaticals so often back then? He took time off in 1991, took time off in 1993 before the Intercontinental Title stuff, left again after WrestleMania in 1994, does a one shot in 1995....

Samoa Joe's new music reminds me of Dave Chappelle's Blackzilla skit